Widmer Bros "Drifter Pale Ale"

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ILOVEBEER

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I think I found my new favorite beer (atleast for today) and wanted to know if anyone had a clone recipe they would care to share. I do AG with a RIMS system so I should be able to replicate it with some help.

Thanks
Joe
 
Thank you for the help...I do not have any brew software or that much experience with AG yet and could use a tried and true recipe if anyone has it.

Thanks
Joe
 
This recipe is not tried and true, but it's what I plan on following when I try my hand at a Drifter clone this spring. There's not a lot of hard info out there, so I went off of the Widmer site and played around in Beersmith. It's too bad they don't list the SRM. Anyway, you might give this a shot:

Est Original Gravity: 1.056 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.74 %
Estimated Bitterness: 35.3 IBU
Est Color: 10.7 SRM


8 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 76.19 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 9.52 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
8.0 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %

Bittering:
0.50 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 26.0 IBU

Flavor/Aroma:
0.50 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] (5 min) Hops 4.1 IBU
0.50 oz Summit [15.00 %] (5 min) Hops 5.2 IBU

Dry Hop:
1.00 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Summit [15.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -

1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale


Mash at 154.


Like I said.. not tried and true, but it should be fairly close. I haven't had a bottle of Drifter around to see what the color actually is, so the cara malts might stand a bit of adjusting.
 
cool...thanks for the help.

I am only to assume this is for a 5 gal batch?

Thanks for your help.
 
14.28% of the grist as crystal malts? That's a bit high, and I don't remember drifter being that sweet. I'd say drop the carapils and replace it with an equal amount of the base malt, especally if you're going to mash at 154, as that much crystal and a 154 mash temp would make it underattenuate and you'd be left with a really sweet beer, and not in a good way, imho.
 
14.28% of the grist as crystal malts? That's a bit high, and I don't remember drifter being that sweet. I'd say drop the carapils and replace it with an equal amount of the base malt, especally if you're going to mash at 154, as that much crystal and a 154 mash temp would make it underattenuate and you'd be left with a really sweet beer, and not in a good way, imho.

Well, C20 barely even counts as crystal. ;-)

I have no trouble getting good attenuation with 10-12% crystal. Your experience may be different. As an example, one of my last beers was an ESB mashed at 154, with 10% crystal (60 and 120). I got 79% apparent attenuation, for a final gravity of 1.011.

I s'pose I could drop the carapils to 4 oz, C20 to 12oz and bump caravienne up to 1 lb. That'll decrease the body and keep SRM about the same. We're shooting for a 1.012 FG here.. nothing too hard to hit.
 
there's a big difference between 10% crystal and a touch over 14% My ESB is 10% crystal as well. If you drop the carapils it drops you at just about 10% crystal, which is perfect IMHO.

And C20 is most certainly a crystal, carapils and caravienne as well.
 
I'm not sure if anyone ever came up with a good clone, but Drifter is based on the Widmer 07 brewmaster beer. I think the only difference is that in drifter they are also using Nelson Sauvin.

I was going to work on cloning that beer, but never got around to it. Though I remember having some discussions with people about it
 
there's a big difference between 10% crystal and a touch over 14% My ESB is 10% crystal as well. If you drop the carapils it drops you at just about 10% crystal, which is perfect IMHO.

And C20 is most certainly a crystal, carapils and caravienne as well.

cara-pils is "crystal" in name only, as it adds little to no caramel color. It's really dextrine malt, and it's in my recipe because Widmer says it's in their beer.

The rest of my recipe is based on my recollection of the color of Drifter. It's been a few months since I had a bottle, but I remember it on the darker side of the range: 8-10 SRM or so. Like I said in the first post, the amounts of crystal could use some adjustment, but that's difficult to do without either a bottle in front of you or some other color info. Unfortunately, Widmer doesn't list SRM like some breweries do.


Short version: it's pointless to try to make a "clone" by discarding brewery-provided ingredient lists.
 
cara-pils is "crystal" in name only, as it adds little to no caramel color. It's really dextrine malt, and it's in my recipe because Widmer says it's in their beer.

The rest of my recipe is based on my recollection of the color of Drifter. It's been a few months since I had a bottle, but I remember it on the darker side of the range: 8-10 SRM or so. Like I said in the first post, the amounts of crystal could use some adjustment, but that's difficult to do without either a bottle in front of you or some other color info. Unfortunately, Widmer doesn't list SRM like some breweries do.


Short version: it's pointless to try to make a "clone" by discarding brewery-provided ingredient lists.

Color is not what makes things a crystal malt. All crystal malts have dextrins, and crystal malts are added to provide sweetness and residual long-chain sugars that cannot be fermented by standard ale yeasts. Sure, keep some carapils if it makes you feel better, but what I'm saying mainly is lower the OVERALL amount of crystal malts because nearly 15% is far too much, and yes, in the overall crystal percentage carapils counts.

the purpose of crystal malts is not only to add color.
 
So freezeblade...any chance you want to REFINE the original recipe for me?


Thanks
Joe
 
If you shoot for a 8 SRM beer, you can change it to this:

9 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 85.71 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
8.0 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.38 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2.38 %

That'll be more attenuative, but like I said before- it all depends on how dark the beer actually is. I'd rather hit the color within 2 and have FG 0.001 or 0.002 off.
 
I'd start with something like this and adjust next time if you need more body or color. Mash at 154F and you should be OK.

10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM)
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM)
 
I actually sent Widmer Bros an email this past year asking for some advice on their hopping since I am also interested in trying a "clone". This is the response I got from them. I didn't ask about the grist - though the willingness to share some hop info makes we think you could probably get some grain info out of them too.

You [may have a] hard time finding economical Nelson’s hops and I doubt you will find any. Not only are they hard to find in general (they’ve only been around for a few years), virtually the entire crop is contracted out. And, what little is left was quickly grabbed up. They are growing in popularity so in years to come they may become more available.

Summits, on the other hand, are easy to find, and getting easier. It’s becoming a very popular hop for the extract market, as well as craft brewing.

Lastly, yes, Alchemy charge [their bittering hop mixture] on Drifter is small. Nelson and Summit are used late in the brewhouse (in the Whirlpool), and, dry hopped as well - the Nelson and Summits are not added to the boil – only to the whirlpool and the dry hopping. Between the two varieties, Summit and Nelson, there is about 0.5# per barrel total usage.
 
You [may have a] hard time finding economical Nelson’s hops and I doubt you will find any.
Brewmaster's Warehouse has both, at least at the moment.

Nelson and Summit are used late in the brewhouse (in the Whirlpool), and, dry hopped as well - the Nelson and Summits are not added to the boil – only to the whirlpool and the dry hopping. Between the two varieties, Summit and Nelson, there is about 0.5# per barrel total usage.
______

That works out to under 1 1/2 ounces total for 5 gallons.

Here's my revised idea at a recipe:

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 85.71 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
8.0 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.38 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2.38 %
0.50 oz Nelson Sauvin [5.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
0.50 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 25.9 IBU
0.50 oz Summit [15.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
0.25 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
0.25 oz Summit [15.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.6 IBU
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 10.50 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 13.13 qt of water at 163.7 F 152.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 7.35 qt of water at 196.6 F 168.0 F
 
Thanks Dwarven for your work on this, I'm also a Drifter lover. Looking forward to hearing about how this one turns out.
 
I definitely love me some Drifter. I am shooting for a Drifter inspired pale ale as one of my next few brews. Here is the recipe I worked up (different than Drifter to include FWH deliciousness).

[size=+2]Piss Maker[/size]
[size=+1]10-A American Pale Ale[/size]
Author: Nick Ladd



Size: 6.1 gal
Efficiency: 80.0%
Attenuation: 77.0%
Calories: 194.34 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.058 (1.045 - 1.060)
|======================#=========|
Terminal Gravity: 1.013 (1.010 - 1.015)
|===================#============|
Color: 12.16 (5.0 - 14.0)
|====================#===========|
Alcohol: 5.91% (4.5% - 6.2%)
|=====================#==========|
Bitterness: 46.5 (30.0 - 45.0)
|=========================#======|

[size=+1]Ingredients:[/size]
11 lb Pale Ale Malt
.75 lb Caramel Malt 20L
.5 lb Belgian Caravienne
.5 lb Cara-Pils® Malt
.25 lb 2-Row Caramel Malt 80L
.75 oz Summit (18.5%) - added first wort, boiled 20 min
.25 oz Summit (18.5%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
1 tsp Irish Moss - added during boil, boiled 15 min
.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient - added during boil, boiled 10 min
.5 oz Nelson Sauvin (11%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
.5 oz Summit (18.5%) - added during boil, boiled 10 min
.5 oz Nelson Sauvin (11%) - added during boil, boiled 0 min
.5 oz Summit (18.5%) - added during boil, boiled 0 min
1 ea WYeast 1056 American Ale
1 oz Summit (18.5%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1 oz Nelson Sauvin (11%) - added dry to secondary fermenter

[size=+1]Schedule:[/size]
Ambient Air: 72 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:03:00 Dough In - Liquor: 4.64 gal; Strike: 164.66 °F; Target: 154 °F
01:03:00 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60 min; Final: 149.2 °F
01:23:00 Batch Sparge - First Sparge: 2.5 gal sparge @ 200 °F, 10 min; Second Sparge: 2.5 gal sparge @ 182.0 °F, 10 min; Total Runoff: 7.04 gal

[size=+1]Notes[/size]
- Preheat MLT with 1 gallon boiling water for 5 minutes before adding grains.
- Start timer once hot breaks occurs.
- Add 0 minute hops and then take off heat and rest 5 minutes before chilling wort.
- After cooling wort, whirlpool, let settle 25 minutes, and drain off sides.
- Aerate 2 minutes once in fermenter, pitch yeast and aerate an additional 2 minutes.

- Ferment primary 2 weeks @ 64* F.
- Secondary dry hop 2 weeks. Split hop additions into 1 week intervals.
- Secondary 4 days w/ gelatin
- 1 tsp. Knox gelatin + 1 c. boiled and semi-cooled water (170*). Bring heat up to dissolve gelatin. Take off heat once dissolved. Do not boil! Let bloom 20 min.

- Use extra fermenter as bottling bucket.
- Bottle (26) 12 oz. bottles with the balance in 22 oz. bottles.
- Prime to 2.5 atmospheres pressure.


[size=-1]Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.5[/size]
 
Brewmaster's Warehouse has both, at least at the moment.



That works out to under 1 1/2 ounces total for 5 gallons.

Here's my revised idea at a recipe:

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
9 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 85.71 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
8.0 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 4.76 %
4.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.38 %
4.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2.38 %
0.50 oz Nelson Sauvin [5.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
0.50 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 25.9 IBU
0.50 oz Summit [15.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
0.25 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
0.25 oz Summit [15.00 %] (5 min) Hops 2.6 IBU
1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 10.50 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 13.13 qt of water at 163.7 F 152.0 F
10 min Mash Out Add 7.35 qt of water at 196.6 F 168.0 F

This looks good. FWIW I just went through my BeerSmith "ideas" folder and found my unrefined first attempt at a Drifter-like recipe. Looks like we were on the same track (I left out the NS hops since I couldn't locate any at that time):

(for a 5.5 gallon batch)

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 85.11 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.26 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 4.26 %
8.0 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 4.26 %
4.0 oz Carafoam (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM) Grain 2.13 %
0.50 oz Warrior [15.00 %] (60 min) Hops 27.6 IBU
1.00 oz Summit [18.00 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
0.50 oz Summit [18.00 %] (10 min) Hops 6.6 IBU
0.50 oz Summit [18.00 %] (0 min) Hops -
2 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) Yeast-Ale
 
Since I last posted I am ready to try one of these wonderful recipes you all have helped with....has anyone actually brewed this since we all last posted?

Thanks for the help
Joe
 
Since I last posted I am ready to try one of these wonderful recipes you all have helped with....has anyone actually brewed this since we all last posted?

Thanks for the help
Joe

I brewed the last recipe I posted above, and it's pretty close. It needs more body, though. I'm brewing again today, and I think I will add 4 oz each C20 and C80 to the mix. As it is now, the color is too light and the mouthfeel is lacking. The hops flavor and aroma is pretty much spot on, but overbalances the beer slightly because of the lesser body in mine. I'll update when batch #2 is out.
 
I brewed the last recipe I posted above, and it's pretty close. It needs more body, though. I'm brewing again today, and I think I will add 4 oz each C20 and C80 to the mix. As it is now, the color is too light and the mouthfeel is lacking. The hops flavor and aroma is pretty much spot on, but overbalances the beer slightly because of the lesser body in mine. I'll update when batch #2 is out.

Someone asked about Drifter again today, and I remembered I had never updated. The 2nd attempt had good mouthfeel- I feel like I have that part pretty close now. I overdid the dry hopping, though, and ended up with some grassiness and some onion aroma that I assume is from the Summit. Lesson learned- don't go out of town on short notice and leave the dry hop in for 2 weeks.

I still have some Nelson hops, and I plan on doing this beer once more this year.
 
I just had drifter for the first time last night and I can't believe how good it is.

Now the stupid NOOBIE question...What creates the Guava-like flavor in it? The hops? The malts? The Yeast? All of the above? I could have sworn there was some guava juice in that stuff.
 
I just had drifter for the first time last night and I can't believe how good it is.

Now the stupid NOOBIE question...What creates the Guava-like flavor in it? The hops? The malts? The Yeast? All of the above? I could have sworn there was some guava juice in that stuff.

The hops. A mix of summit and Nelson sauvin
 
Any new up dates on any of the Drifter Clones? I LOVE this Beer!! I can only seem to find it in a Mixed Veriety pack :( there is only 3 in there... I would love to make a 5 gal. batch for the summer, Hell I would even settle for an extract recipe.

Thanks guys
 
Any new up dates on any of the Drifter Clones? I LOVE this Beer!! I can only seem to find it in a Mixed Veriety pack :( there is only 3 in there... I would love to make a 5 gal. batch for the summer, Hell I would even settle for an extract recipe.

Thanks guys

I'd like to find a good recipe for this also. In the mean time, hit up BevMo, they have 6 packs of it.
 
Hey guys, I'm looking to brew a drifter clone pretty soon and I was wondering how your batches turned out. Like discussed before I'm a bit worried about the residual sweetness from all the crystal that goes into this recipe. Any thoughts from your experience?
 
Hey guys, I'm looking to brew a drifter clone pretty soon and I was wondering how your batches turned out. Like discussed before I'm a bit worried about the residual sweetness from all the crystal that goes into this recipe. Any thoughts from your experience?

I've brewed it a few times now, and have had no trouble when mashing low (say 149). I suppose an alternative approach would be to cut the crystal and mash higher to keep some body, but then you'll have issues with color (if that's important to you). Anyway, I've taken my recipe as given above out and about, and it gets rave reviews. It's quite the tasty beer- just don't dry hop it too long! :)
 
I tried the below extract recipe as my first batch ever two nights ago. As soon as I put a mash tun together I definitely want to try an AG version an add the cara pils and the cara 20. I couldnt get my hands on any cara 80, so I just used some cara 60 and steeped it for just a little longer.

6 lbs DME
4 oz cara 60
6 oz caravienna
.4 oz warrior pellets (15.8%AA) -60 mins
.25 oz Nelson Sauvin pellets (12.4%AA) - 2 mins
.25 oz Summit pellets (18.7%AA) - 2 mins
1/4 oz of both summit and Nelson Sauvin at flameout
Wyeast American Ale 1056 smack pack

Initial gravity came out to 1.053. Didnt use a starter for the yeast though I definitely want to next time. Still, the Lag time was only about 9 hours. I plan on adding another 1/4 oz of summit and Nelson to dry hop for only a week in the secondary fermentor. I'm super excited to try it. Will report how it comes out. Should be ready April 1st.
 
dwarven_stout said:
I've brewed it a few times now, and have had no trouble when mashing low (say 149). I suppose an alternative approach would be to cut the crystal and mash higher to keep some body, but then you'll have issues with color (if that's important to you). Anyway, I've taken my recipe as given above out and about, and it gets rave reviews. It's quite the tasty beer- just don't dry hop it too long! :)

Can you post your updated and refined recipe? Looks like you mentioned some tweaks in your subsequent posts but never posted a totally updated recipe. Thanks so much. I've only been able to find drifter once as it's not available around here (as best I can tell).

Sent from my iPad using HB Talk
 
Hey dwarven, you could post your recipe in the tried-and-true recipe section if you feel it's refined enough.

Based on this thread, here's what I did:
5.25 gal batch
9 lb 2-row
12 oz C.20
8 oz C. 80
8 oz Caravienne
4 oz Cara-Pils
.5 oz Warrior 15.5% 60 min
.25 oz Summit 17% 5 min
.25 Nelson Sauvin 12.4% 5 min
.5 each N.S and Summit dry hop
Yeast: US-05
OG:1.055
FG: 1.009

I think it came out pretty good. I must have mashed a little low, FG just a touch low.

Now, a question for you all. Where the heck is all the N.S. hops? Did Widmer buy all of it for their Deadlift IPA? I can't find any of it for sale anywhere, and i want to brew this again
 
I recently brewed a Drifter clone based off this thread as well. I bottled it last week, only tasted hydrometer samples so far.

I have to say, the samples did taste a TAD sweet, but I'm wondering how that will change after bottle conditioning and carbonation. It wasn't overwhelming, just slightly noticeable (and to be fair, I was looking for that after reading this thread).

The hop flavor was very close to the real deal! I drank the sample side-by-side with the real thing.

Can report back how it turned out in another week or two. I have 3 bottles of Drifter in the fridge for comparison, too. :)

Here was my recipe:

9lb 2-row
8oz caramel 20
8oz caramel 80
8oz caravienne
4oz cara-Pils

150* mash for 60mins

.4oz columbus 17.7% 60 min (LHBS was out of warrior)
.25oz nelson sauvin 12.5% 10 min
.25oz summit 18% 10 min
.5oz nelson sauvin dry hop 5 days
.5oz summit dry hop 5 days

Measured OG: 1.059
Measured FG: 1.012
 
So I'm taste-testing the recipe I posted just above with a bottle of the real thing.

Color: almost identical
Aroma: hop aroma much more noticeable in mine, this could just be freshness though
Flavor: very close. Summit hops come through more on mine, nelson sauvin come through a little more on Widmer's. Bitterness is spot on. Maltiness of my version is just a tad sweeter, but hardly noticeable.

I have to say this recipe is pretty close.
 
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